03 October 2023; MEMO: Christians face “persecution” by illegal Israeli extremist groups amid government inaction, the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Jerusalem said on Tuesday, Anadolu Agency reports.

“We feel persecution against our community and religion,” WCC coordinator in Jerusalem, Youssef Daher, told Anadolu.

"There is a Jewish Israeli persecution, encouraged either by police negligence or by statements made by Israeli cabinet ministers" he added.

BERLIN, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 jolted Iceland at 1612 GMT on Wednesday, the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 64.44 degrees north latitude and 17.64 degrees west longitude. 

GENEVA (AP) — A unique 2030 World Cup is set to be played in Europe and Africa with the surprising addition of South America in a deal to allow the men’s soccer tournament to start with a 100th birthday party in Uruguay.

FIFA reached an agreement Wednesday between soccer’s continental leaders to accept only one candidate for hosting the 2030 tournament in six countries, the sport’s governing body said.

ISTANBUL, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- An ancient trident harpoon, estimated to be 1,700-1,800 years old, has been discovered during an ongoing archaeological excavation in northwestern Türkiye, local media reported Wednesday.

This iron harpoon, designed for fishing in ancient times, was found at an archaeological site in the village of Assos in Canakkale province, according to the state-run Anadolu agency.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Officials from the International Monetary Fund say they expect the United States will continue playing its key role in amassing multinational support that has helped keep Ukraine’s economy afloat during Russia’s invasion.

That’s despite Congress recently passing a short-term funding package that averted a U.S. government shutdown but dropped $6 billion in aid to Ukraine. It’s not clear if, when or how that aid installment might be restored.

03 October 2023; MEMO: Five Danish opposition parties announced, on Tuesday, that they will mobilise as many of their MPs as possible to oppose the government’s bill to criminalise defaming religious symbols, including the Muslim holy book, Quran, Anadolu Agency reports.

The bill is expected to be moved for voting during the current parliamentary session, which begins on Tuesday after the autumn recess.

ANKARA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan revealed on Wednesday that the two assailants responsible for a recent suicide bomb attack in the capital city of Ankara hailed from Syria.

Telling a press conference in Ankara, the minister said that "it has become clear that the two terrorists came from Syria and received training here," vowing "extremely clear" responses to the attack.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis shamed and challenged world leaders on Wednesday to commit to binding targets to slow climate change before it’s too late, warning that God’s increasingly warming creation is fast reaching a “point of no return.”

In an unusually bleak update to his landmark 2015 encyclical on the environment, Francis heightened the alarm about the “irreversible” harm to people and planet already under way and lamented that once again, the world’s poor and most vulnerable are paying the highest price.

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Venetians stopped in dismay Wednesday to pay respects to the 21 foreign tourists who were killed when an all-electric shuttle bus crashed through an overpass guardrail and fence, plunging more than 10 meters to the ground.

It’s a road they had traveled many times and considered safe but now stopped to inspect the aging guardrail and rusted fence.

The bus, which was just a year old, crashed to the ground and landed upside down on Tuesday night. The 40-year-old driver was among those killed and 15 people were injured.

Houston, Oct 4 (PTI) Two men of Indian origin in the US have pleaded guilty to their participation in a multi-million dollar fraud scheme by obtaining loans under an economic assistance plan following the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, the justice department said.

03 October 2023; MEMO: Pakistan, on Tuesday, gave a one-month deadline to all the “illegal immigrants” to leave the country, Anadolu Agency reports.

Addressing a news conference in the capital, Islamabad, caretaker Interior Minister, Sarfraz Bugti, said the government is giving a deadline to all foreigners living illegally to leave the country by 1 November.

After the deadline, he said, all the illegal immigrants will be deported.

New York, Oct 4 (PTI) A speciality pharmacy company in the US and its Indian-origin chief executive officer have agreed collectively to pay USD 20 million to resolve allegations that they paid kickbacks to patients and physicians to protect its revenue stream, the justice department said.

“BioTek allegedly provided improper physician inducements and covered up kickbacks for patient referrals by waiving co-pays,” said US Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.